The Shock series of games are lauded like few others. Each game crafted a unique, memorable, and horrifying world to explore. System Shock and System Shock 2 focused on the terror of space, while Bioshock and Bioshock 2 dropped you 20,000 leagues under the sea. Then along came Bioshock Infinite. In many ways, it’s the odd one out. The game world is colorful and vibrant, there aren’t any grotesque or disturbing enemies, and there’s no impactful moral choices to make. Bioshock Infinite is a game that deserves a second look, so let’s get to it.

I'm a huge fan of the Shock games, so I was really excited for this one. I was surprised by how much they changed the formula. — I'm a huge fan of the *Shock* games, so I was really excited for this one. I was surprised by how much they changed the formula.

And coming in first place for the "Most Generic Protagonist Ever" we have Booker DeWitt!

In Bioshock Infinite you play as Booker Dewitt, a former US cavalryman and Pinkerton strikebreaker. A mysterious client agrees to pay off your massive debts if you bring back a girl from the floating city of Columbia. You quickly figure out that finding Elizabeth and bringing her to New York will be harder than you imagined. Before you know it, you and Elizabeth are fighting your way through all of Columbia, warping reality, and clashing with the highest powers in the city.

The combat in Bioshock Infinite might be the best in the series. It certainly beats the combat in the two System Shock games, as well as Bioshock. Shooting feels punchy and smooth and the enemies are well designed. Your movement speed is quick enough that navigating the large spaces you find yourself in is easy and rewarding. The weapons in BI remind me of the weapons in Black for the PS2; you can use any of the weapons throughout the whole game, rather than upgrading, ala Mass Effect 2. You have a variety of Vigors (Infinite’s version of Plasmids), which are powered by Salts that you can find throughout the game.

i feel like shooting somebody clad in crazy metal armor and wielding fireballs might not be best gameplan, but hey, what do I know?

The environments in Infinite are beautifully designed. From the minute you land in Columbia, you see a vibrant, colorful, and beautiful city full of well-designed little details. People mill about on the grass have picnics, others run little shops here and there, and everybody looks like they walked right out of a 1910’s painting.

Ugh, Jesus, this game is too damn pretty. The art style, lighting, and atmosphere are top notch. The sound design is well done and it complements the atmosphere very well.. There's amazing covers of God Only Knows and Fortunate Son as well.

The cohesiveness in the art direction, sound design, and environments is really impressive for a modern game. The “levels” of the game are designed to encourage exploration, with hidden items scattered about, as well as a sense of verticality that’s new to the series. Columbia is full of “skylines”, metal rail lines that you can hop on and off in the middle of combat or just to explore the world. This helps you think of the game world as a 3D space, rather than just a 2D shooting gallery.

Bioshock Infinite does a fantastic job painting the elegant outside of 1910’s America, but it doesn’t shy away from the rotten core. The racism and classism that you experience in Columbia is shocking and omnipresent, but not more so than it needed to be.

So much racist history to think about, so little time. Bioshock Infinite puts you in a beautiful and sobering world, especially given modern politics. — So much racist history to think about, so little time. *Bioshock Infinite* puts you in a beautiful and sobering world, especially given modern politics.

Some people have criticized the violence in the game, saying that it’s excessive and that it doesn’t mesh with the beautiful, colorful world of Columbia, but I disagree. American history is a history of warfare. As of 2015, out of the 239 years America has been a recognized nation, 222 of them have involved armed conflict of some kind. The beginning of America as a nation was the Revolutionary War and American expansion was marked by the slaughter of the indigenous peoples. Violence is what we do, and Bioshock Infinite doesn’t let you forget that.

As Penny Arcade pointed out, she's basically a Disney Princess. She certainly has more character than a few of them.

All of the above is impressive, but not unique. There’s one part of Infinite that stands above all other games, and that’s Elizabeth. Elizabeth feels real in the way that incredibly few characters do, let alone game characters. She is blessed (or perhaps cursed) with the ability to interact with “Tears”, holes in the fabric of reality that can be found all over Columbia. She can bring things in from other dimensions as well as pass into them. This power of hers is remarkable by itself, but the game designers also did a fantastic job giving her both thematic and gameplay impact. Her strange abilities are the reason why she was locked in Columbia her whole life. You can see her use this power several times to advance the plot, but you can also use them in the middle of combat. She’s one of the few escort quests that never feels annoying, partly because she can’t be damaged in combat and partly because she’s just enjoyable to be around. Creating characters that aren’t one dimensional and have a story impact is difficult in media, but the designers of Infinite struck gold with Elizabeth.

While the actual shooting mechanics are well designed, a lot of the mechanics surrounding combat are not so well thought out. Unlike previous Shock games, Infinite only allows you to carry two weapons at any time. You can upgrade weapons throughout the game, but you’ll find yourself running out of ammo for your upgraded weapons a lot, especially on harder difficulties. Interestingly enough, you have access to all of your Vigors at all times and most of them (six of eight possible Vigors) have only direct combat uses. Maybe the developers wanted you to use the Vigors more than guns, but there aren’t enough Salts to use them for every situation. I think you could have removed the Vigors from the game, and you wouldn’t lose much. The level of possible customization also decreased in this game compared to the previous games in the series. In the Bioshock games you could equip a variety of Gene Tonics, which offered passive bonuses like increased melee damage, or fire resistance, etc. In Infinite you can find a variety of Gear, clothes which offer some bonuses, but you can only equip four at any given time. Lastly, the increased difficulty settings for this game are the worst kind: the kind where all enemies become bullet sponges while you become paper-thin. Challenge is more than just weighing the scale against the player.

Worth Playing?

Yes.

Bioshock Infinite is an odd duck, especially when compared to the rest of the series. It stumbles a fair number of times, but in the end, its charm, fast paced combat, and Elizabeth make it worth playing for sure. I really can’t say how impressive Elizabeth is as an NPC in a game. She sets the bar and I’ve yet to find an NPC as engaging, useful, or so well tied to both and gameplay.